The Graveyard
by First Hero of Olympus
Summary: Playing out in the snow one day, Lily Luna Potter comes across a strange grave with her name on it. She asks her father about it, and Harry tells his yongest the story of how his parents died for him. NextGen Oneshot


**Disclaimer: The amazing world of _Harry Potter _does not belong to me. All credit goes to J.K. Rowling.**

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**The Graveyard**

Lily Luna Potter was bored. The redhead seven-year-old sat on the window seat in her room, watching the wind whip the falling snow into swirls. She wished someone would play a game with her, but nobody was around. Teddy and her eldest brother, James, were at Hogwarts for a few more weeks, until the start of the Christmas holidays. Her dad, Harry, was busy, and her mum, Ginny, had taken her brother Albus to Saint Mungos after he was knocked unconscious during a game of Quidditch earlier that morning. Lily grimaced. In her defense, though, how was she supposed to know that the Bludger she hit would fly straight towards his head? She hoped he was okay.

Tired of staring at the snow, Lily hopped off the bench and made her way downstairs, being careful to tiptoe past her father's study. Even though it was Saturday, Harry still had work, reducing the already limited amount of time he spent with his family. This was the part that they liked the least about his promotion to Head Auror. Lily remembered how before, he would play dolls with her and Quidditch with James, Al, and Teddy. He still did those things, of course, but it happened considerably less often. Right now, Lily wished more than anything that it was one of those infrequent times.

Sighing in disappointment, the small redhead reached the first floor of the house and put on a coat, scarf, and mittens so she could play outside in the snow.

She opened the door, and a blast of frigid air hit her. She quickly stepped out and closed the door, knowing full well that her mum didn't like snow in the house.

The front lawn was covered with the fine white powder, and Lily happily dove in, making snowmen and snow angels.

After about fifteen minutes, the air grew colder and the wind picked up, roaring over the tops of the white-painted trees. Lily paused in her crafting of a snow woman to take off her scarf and rewrap it tighter. As she was raising the pink cloth to her neck, though, it was caught by the ferocious wind, and yanked out of her hands.

"Hey, come back here!" she quietly scolded, taking off into a run down the street. The scarf danced down the road, always staying a step or two ahead of the little girl, until she finally cornered it in a small alley between two houses.

Picking up the piece of fabric, Lily wrapped it around her neck, then stood up, examining her surroundings.

She exited the alley, hoping to find herself close to her house, but was afraid when she didn't recognize any of the houses around her.

Lily ran down the street, her red hair whipping behind her, searching for the familiar glow of her porch lights. She turned onto another street, and her panic was heightened when these homes were, too, unfamiliar.

She half-walked, half-ran through the next few streets, until she collapsed behind a snow-covered shrub on the side of the road. The small seven-year-old wrapped her arms around her legs, placing her head in her bent knees. She rocked back and forth, crying quietly.

"Mummy," she whispered. "Mummy, Daddy, where are you?"

The distant sound of ringing bells startled her. She raised her head and peered through the thick snow. "Daddy?" she asked hopefully.

Slowly, she got to her feet and followed the sound of the bells. After a few rings, they stopped, but Lily kept walking, eventually finding herself in front of a small church.

She walked around, observing the vacant building. There were a few snowy steps leading up to a tall, pointed doorway. She looked up farther and could barely make out a bell tower, where the chiming had come from.

Hugging herself because of the cold, Lily wandered to the side and stumbled upon a stone path. She followed it to a frost-covered kissing gate, guarding the entrance to a graveyard. Part of her wanted to run and go find her mum and dad, but a greater part of her was curious, so she placed a small, gloved hand on the gate and pushed it open.

She quietly entered the graveyard. It was completely silent, even more then outside the gate, it seemed. The only noises were the crunch of her boots through the soft snow, the steady rhythm of her breath, and the almost eerie howl of the wind.

Brushing her ice-covered hair out of her face, Lily slowly walked down the rows of graves, stopping every now and then to read the names. Only a few popped out at her; the last name 'Abbot' like her Auntie Hannah's maiden name, and someone with the name 'Dumbledore', like her dad's old headmaster and her brother's namesake.

After a while, right as she was about to leave, her panic about being lost restored, Lily noticed a tall, white tombstone. It stood out easily, despite the white snow, and she couldn't keep herself from approaching it. She knelt down next to the memorial, and reached out a hand to brush the snowflakes off the names. When they were uncovered, Lily froze in fear, recognizing both the first and last names of the two people on the grave.

'Lily Potter and James Potter' the marker read. Lily felt her breath quicken and she pulled her hand away from the marble. _Why was her name on that gravestone?_

Slowly, she started backing away from the grave, as if it might be tainted. She turned around to run, but then caught sight of another figure near the open kissing gate. Spooked because of the grave, Lily ducked down behind a headstone in the row in front of the grave with her name on it, hoping that whoever else was in the graveyard would leave quickly and not notice her. Being completely silent, Lily listened as the other person crunched through the snow, coming in her direction. She crouched down smaller, until the person spoke.

"Lily?" came the slightly desperate voice, and Lily was calmed, the voice familiar to her.

Eagerly relieved, the young Potter jumped up from behind the stone, running up to a tall man with disheveled black hair and bright green relief-filled eyes behind circular glasses.

"Daddy!" she said happily, jumping at him and wrapping her arms around his waist.

He reached down and picked her up, and she moved to hug his neck.

Harry looked intently at her. "Lily-Flower, are you okay?"

Lily nodded eagerly, felling happier now that she was safe in her father's arms.

Harry looked around. "What are you doing here, sweetie?"

Lily looked down in shame, although she technically wasn't in trouble. "I got lost," she said sadly. Then, she remembered the odd grave, and wriggled around in her dad's arms until he put her down.

Her feet touched the ground, and Lily slowly approached the grave, more confident now that she had her dad by her side.

She reached the white marble and knelt down, tugging Harry's hand to make him kneel down next to her. She pointed at the stone.

"Daddy, why are mine and Jamie's names on that stone?" she asked, slightly nervous. She looked at her father with fear in her big brown eyes. "Does… does it mean we're gonna die?"

Her dad smiled at her, but Lily noticed that his green eyes, which she desperately wished she had inherited, were sad. "No, Lily-Flower. It's not you and your brother's names."

Lily scrunched her eyebrows in confusion. "But it says James and Lily, and our names are James and Lily!"

Harry placed an arm around her shoulders. "It's not for you and your brother, Lily-Flower. It's for my parents," he finished quietly.

Lily was confused for a second, but then her eyes cleared. "Grandma and Grandpa Weasley?" she asked.

Her father smiled the same sad smile as before. "No, those are Mummy's parents. These are Daddy's parents. You've never met them."

She was confused. Why would her dad's parents never want to see her and her brothers? "Why not?" she asked.

Lily studied her dad intently. At her question, he had sighed so quietly that Lily could barely hear it. His emerald eyes seemed darker somehow, as if he knew that the question was coming, and he didn't want to answer it, which confused the seven-year-old. She looked back at the gravestone. If her dad's parents were buried there, then when did they die? How would her dad live without his mum and dad? Lily couldn't imagine what she would do if her mum and dad disappeared. Pushing the scary thought from her mind, Lily twisted a piece of her shoulder-length red hair between her fingers and turned back to her dad, waiting for him to answer her question.

Harry finally spoke. "Well, Lily," he said. "A long time ago, there was a bad man named Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Lily asked. For some reason, the name sounded familiar, but she couldn't remember why.

Her dad nodded. "And when I was a baby, this man tried to kill me."

Lily's eyes went wide and she moved closer to Harry. "Why would he do that, Daddy? You can't kill a baby! It's against the rules!"

Harry smiled wryly. "You're right Lily-Flower. But, Voldemort didn't listen to the rules. He was evil."

Lily nodded furiously. Anyone who tried to hurt her dad, especially when he was a baby, was evil.

Her father continued. "Well, Voldemort came to my house, here in Godric's Hollow, when I was one. He tried to kill me, but my mum and dad died trying to protect me."

Lily's eyes widened even more, and she felt tears forming in them. Scared by this Voldemort person, the redhead climbed into her dad's lap and buried her head in his chest, her small fingers closing tightly on his jacket. She felt his arms wrap around her back, and she relaxed slightly.

"If your Mummy and Daddy died, then who did you live with?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled by his coat.

She must've sounded upset, and true enough she felt like she was about to cry, because her dad rubbed circles on her back, then answered her question. "I lived with my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia and my cousin Dudley until I went to Hogwarts."

Lily nodded, digesting his words. She tried to imagine what it would be like if her mum and dad died. She and her brothers would probably live with their Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and their cousins Rose and Hugo, since they were the closest to her family. But, despite the fact that she loved her cousins, she loved her parents more and didn't know what she would do if they died. She suddenly tensed up. Her parents _wouldn't _die, would they? Tears started falling down her face. She had to know for sure.

"Is the bad man still trying to k-kill you, Daddy?" she asked, her voice shaky.

Lily felt herself being moved, and suddenly she was staring into her father's eyes, his warm hand under her chin. She felt her tears and snot mix with the swirling snow, but she didn't take her brown eyes off her dad's reassuring green ones. "Don't worry, Lily-Flower. I killed the bad man. He's never going to hurt me, or you, or Mummy, or James, or Al. "He's gone."

She nodded in satisfaction, and wiped away the unappealing mess of snow, tears, and snot, then climbed out of Harry's lap towards the grave. She sat on her heels and wiped some snow out of the 'L' in 'Lily'.

"Why do your Mummy and Daddy have the same names as me and James, Daddy?"

Harry smiled genially for the first time. "Your Mum and I named you and James after them to show that we loved them. We named you after them to show that we are grateful for what they did."

The small redhead stood up, brushing snow off her coat, then hugged her dad tightly. "I'm glad too, Daddy," she said.

He smiled at her, and stood up, picking her up once again. "Come on, squirt, we should go home. It's getting late, and Mummy and Albus will be wondering where we are."

Lily nodded and laid her head down on Harry's shoulder as he walked towards the kissing gate. Staring back, she thought of all the good times she had had with her father: playing dress-up and dolls, he teaching her how to fly on a broom, the two of them laughing when she had accidentally hit James with the Quaffle their first time playing Quidditch.

She turned and looked back at the marble tombstone, which she could barely make out through the heavy snowfall. As it faded away, Lily whispered under her breath: "Thanks, Grandma. Thanks, Grandpa."

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**Hello, everybody! This is a little idea I've had for awhile. I really love Next Gen fics. (Some of my favorite are time-travel ones. I know; I'm so chiche.) I hope you like it! Please review!**


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